I’m ashamed to say I applied to most of my schools based off rankings. Even worse, I applied based off of the US News ranking system. A common trend I’ve seen amongst people who applied in my class and the upcoming class is a tendency to go to US News to look at college rankings and just apply to the top 20. Now, while that might work for some, it in general will not. A few reasons:
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The rankings on US News are misleading. The methodology seems to give rank solely based on acceptance rates and alumni endowments rather than other factors such as publications (important if you want to do research and even more important for grad school), alumni job placement, etc. For example, Dartmouth is ranked top 10 on US News. Any other reputable ranking (i.e. Center for World University Rankings, QS Ranking, Times Higher Education) does not rank Dartmouth top 50 in the world let alone top 20 in the US. Cornell on the other hand isn’t top 10 on US news but is top 10 in America on both QS/CWUR and tied with Duke/Michigan on Times. This leads me to my second point:
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Look for the right fit. Some people might say “as long as I’m going to a top 20, who cares about fit”, but in all honesty fit matters a lot more than university ranking. College Admissions Officers can also discern fit pretty well themselves. I.e. ex: a few google searches can reveal Dartmouths large Greek Life, if you absolutely detest Greek Life, then Dartmouth wouldn’t be for you (even though its top 10 on US News). If you dont like having large classes like most public universities, then Cornells not for you, etc. etc.
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Spend time doing the things you love. My parents never told me I had to do something just for college apps. Instead, they encouraged me to just figure out what I liked and pursue that and my decisions came out just fine. Going after NHS and Kiva and Key Club leadership positions just for an app isn’t worth it if you dont’ really enjoy the service aspect to these clubs.
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Remain calm during the admissions process. Often, when other people (friends or not) start getting into schools you want to get into (and you may or may not get rejected/waitlisted/deferred), it can suck and in some cases encourage you to think bad thoughts regarding these people. Just remember, college is a crapshoot here in the good ol USA, don’t let it hit you in your stride.
Good luck to everyone applying in the class(es)of 2019!